


A Thousand Ways to Say I Love You

by AKnightOfAGoodKing



Series: Devil May Cry Attends Redgrave Elementary [14]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Anxiety, Dedication, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-15 11:39:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18498208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AKnightOfAGoodKing/pseuds/AKnightOfAGoodKing
Summary: Well, not a thousand ways but just as profound.





	A Thousand Ways to Say I Love You

**Author's Note:**

> **[DO NOT REPOST/REUSE MY WORK(S) WITHOUT MY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND PERMISSION]**
> 
> I just wanted to write more Lady and to delve a bit into Nero's insecurities and social anxiety.

Math is frustrating. Nero doesn't hate the subject, but it's math that doesn't like him. (Nico would be mad if he ever said he hated math.) Anyway, he's stuck on a problem, but he doesn't want to bother Lady who has also taken up Dante's desk and researching something for a job. The raven looks focused, her fingers typing without pause and humming some song he doesn't know. The boy tries not to fidget too much, trying hard to work out this problem all by himself, but the answer eludes him. Maybe he should give up and ask his teacher tomorrow, but it's going to bother him for the rest of the night because he's no quitter. 

But finally, he decides that he needs a break, putting down his pencil with a heavy frown as he glares at #5. Right now, he just wants to sulk.

"What's wrong, Nero?" 

Nero looks up at Lady who has yet to look away from her laptop, but her eyebrow is raised. "Nothing," he lies, picking up his pencil to pretend. "Just working on math, I guess."

The woman stops typing, and she pulls her seat closer to Nero without being told anything else. "Which one are you having trouble with?" she asks, sitting right next to him. She probably left a sentence unfinished. 

"I'm fine, you don't have to help me, Lady. Go back to your own work," Nero protests lightly, bouncing his leg. "I know you're busy."

Lady smiles, ruffling his hair at that. "There's always enough time in the world for you," she replies. "There's no one who can tell me otherwise. So which problem?" 

Nero hesitates for a second, and then he tells her. Immediately, Lady starts to work it out with him, patient and encouraging as Nero comes to slowly understand math a little better. The boy is surprised by the end of it when he finally gets the answer, once again in awe of the woman beside him.

 

 

 

Nero's lost, and there's too many people to see his way over. He stands by a water fountain with an eagle statue, frozen with wide eyes. He's looking for a familiar in the sea of people, a small speck on the side of a moving picture. He wishes he didn't stop to look at the clown making balloon animals, or else he wouldn't be here, by himself. 

The boy leans closer to the stone fountain, staring as his feet because if he keeps looking, he'll start shaking, barely keeping him small tremor in check. He takes in deep breathes, wanting to stay calm, but they come out shallow, his vision a little blurry from the kept tears. 

He won't ask for help, standing right where he stood like a statue of a boy about to being taken by the eagle, but the idea of talking to a stranger he doesn't know is a much more frightening image. Maybe he should walk home to Devil May Cry all by himself. He knows the way back, maybe, and yet, he hears V saying in his head,  _"Do not walk outside on your own, Nero. You may know how to protect yourself, but please, for my sake, don't risk it."_ He's in the uptown district of Redgrave City, closer to the elementary school than Devil May Cry is, so it's be a long way home. And it's still the middle of day, there will be people walking up and down on every street, and Nero can't see over them. He shouldn't risk it, he might get lost, but he doesn't want to stay here anymore. 

"Hey, are you lost?" a voice says, a young woman with short brown hair leaning down to speak to him. She's giving a kind smile, but Nero doesn't say a thing.

He doesn't know her, he doesn't remember ever seeing her. It's like the first day of first grade again, forcing him to walk into the classroom when his father and his uncle left. He looked around, knowing none of his classmates' names and faces. He wasn't a shy kid, but he already feels like he didn't belong. He wanted to run out and go home, it wasn't safe there. It wasn't until Nico came into the classroom a minute later, arriving to school after him, that Nero calmed down, walking over to her quickly as he continued to bite his cheeks. He felt like a baby but standing next to her anchored him like a floating island to the ocean floor. 

But now, Nico's not with him or Kyrie or Trish or Lady, but a  _stranger_. 

"Honey, is everything okay?" the woman tries again, obviously seeing his body language. "Would you like me to help you find your parent, or call the police?"

Unable to hold back anymore, anxious and overwhelmed with every passing moment, Nero starts to sob, sounding like the ten year old boy he is. The woman becomes frantic, trying to calm Nero down with shushes and telling it's going to be okay, but he doesn't hear what she's saying because the whole world has become only a blur and a noise. That is until one voice becomes loud and clear, "There you are, kid."

Nero is lifted off the ground, and without thinking, he wraps his arms around his uncle's shoulder. "Stupid," he insults with frustration, but he's already feeling better, "stupid, stupid!"

Dante chuckles, patting his nephew on the back. "I know, kiddo, sorry," he simply replies, taking the name calling in strides. He looks over to the woman who's watching with concern. "Were you trying to help him? Thanks, miss," he says, smiling with his usual charm.

The woman blushes a bit, pulling a lock of hair behind her ears. "It's not problem," she says, "I'm glad you found him. If you'd like, I know a nice coffee shop around here where we can take him to calm down a bit more . . ."

"Oh, that's nice of you, but I know that one or two slices of pizza will cheer this little guy up. Whatcha say, Nero?"

Nero has quickly devolved into sniffles, arms still clinging to Dante, and he says, "I want a hotdog."

Dante pulls a confused face, as if he was slapped out of nowhere. "A hotdog? But pizza–"

"I want a hotdog!" Nero says with a huff. 

"Alright, alright, we'll get a hotdog. Anything you want, kiddo, anything for you," the man concedes immediately with another chuckle. He looks back at the woman again. "Thanks again, miss. Have a nice day, okay?" Dante gives her another one of his smiles, and he starts towards the nearest hotdog stand, Nero in his arms and safe.

**Author's Note:**

> Dante has no luck with women because when he tries, his lameness goes up by, like, ten at the very best and when he doesn't try, his oblivious to his own natural charms. The man is a mess, I hope he's grateful for Lady and Trish, lmao. 
> 
> In-verse Info 
> 
> [Devil May Cry has a close professional relationship with the Goldstein, which started when Nell Goldstein made Ebony and Ivory for Dante. Thus when Nell and Rock found out about Nero, they consistently invited the boy to come over to play with Nico who's his exact age, so Nico is Nero's first friend. When Vergil came home to Dante, Nero was about six years old, V seven years older, and they put him in school as soon as possible since he didn't go to kindergarten. The lag in socializing could be a part of why Nero is anxious being around strangers by himself.] 
> 
> If you like my work(s), please check out [my Twitter](https://twitter.com/kappachyun?s=09).


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